Monograph

Science & Stitch

Science & Stitch

Meredith Woolnough

SCIENCE AND STITCH

Mary Carson

Many of us can remember participating in science fairs back in our school days. Poster boards, live experiments and scientific ‘pitches’ were cobbled together to explain how science works.

Now imagine if you had been asked to demonstrate scientific phenomena using your sewing machine. Exactly how would you do so?

Australian artist Meredith Woolnough was presented with just such an opportunity when she was asked to illustrate the beauty of human cells. When she received the invitation, she wasn’t sure it was an opportunity, so she answered the call with a bit of trepidation. But once Meredith was partnered with a scientist who researched embryonic cells, she entered a whole new world of stitch and science.

Meredith was already known for her elegant, freehand machine embroidered drawings showcasing the beauty and fragility of nature in knotted threads. And her use of soluble materials in creating her work is somewhat akin to scientific experiments. She’s never fully certain what the outcome of her stitch explorations will be once she washes away the background.

Inspired by the patterns, structures and shapes found in plants, coral, cells and shells, Meredith brings nature to life in ways we’ve never seen before. That’s why we’re thrilled she’s sharing an insider’s look into her freehand machine embroidery process, along with tips on working with soluble fabrics. She’s also revealing the novel way in which she exhibits her work.

Enjoy this remarkable exploration of scientific stitching.

Meredith Woolnough, Venus Coral Fan (detail), 2022. 104cm x 104cm (41” x 41”). Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins on paper.

Ginkgo Circle (detail), 2021. 63cm x 63cm (25” x 25”). Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins on paper.

Meredith Woolnough, Gold to Green

Meredith Woolnough, Coral Fan Atoll (detail), 2021. 63cm x 63cm (25” x 25”).

Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins on paper.

NavigatiNg UNcharted territorY meredith: I was first introduced to freehand machine embroidery (also referred to as free-motion embroidery) in a very basic way at university in a surface design class. It was my last year (2006) at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), and I thought it was an interesting way to draw with huge creative potential. But there wasn’t anyone at the university or other artist I knew who could help me explore it further. So, I’ve been fine-tuning my practice ever since.

I later learnt about water-soluble fabric, and I thought it, too, was so innovative. I decided to combine it with freehand machine embroidery and discovered even greater room for creative experimentation. It was a way to liberate embroidery from its base cloth and create sculptural embroidered drawings.

At first, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I barely knew my way around a sewing machine, and most of my early experiments just turned into gluey tangles of threads. Pretty much everything I learnt was through trial and error.

Meredith Woolnough, Scribbly Gum Leaf (installation), 2014. 100cm (40”) diameter. Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins.

However, once I sorted out my preferred materials, machine settings and stitching techniques, it all fell into place. I was able to really start playing, and that’s when the magic happened.

I started to learn what was possible, especially how to stitch designs that would hold together in a predictable way once the base fabric was dissolved. And I developed ways to mould and shape the embroideries to create sculptural forms. Magic indeed!

So many of the techniques and practices I use today were developed during that first year of focused study. My early experiments laid the foundation of my current practice, and I fell in love with this simple but highly versatile embroidery technique. How could I not?

exploriNg ScieNce With Stitch

The more I work with natural forms, the more I find myself drawn into the science of nature. I am fascinated by the way things are built, the way they grow and function. I often find myself marvelling at the perfection of a single leaf or the phenomenal beauty of a coral reef. It can be quite overwhelming at times, almost spiritual.

I also find the more I learn about various plants and animals, the more I realise I know so little, and I then want to learn more. It’s a wonderful cycle of learning, discovery and inspiration.

My design ideas often begin with a simple inspiration point found in nature, such as a plant or animal that sparks my interest. I love to do field work sessions where I go out and find, photograph and collect various specimens to study. These sessions can be as simple as a casual walk around the garden to purposefully planned field trips. I just like to immerse myself in nature whenever possible and see what catches my imagination.

Once I identify a particular subject, I research to learn all I can. Research is a highly valuable part of the process, as it helps me become very familiar with my subjects. It’s so much easier to draw something I know intimately.

Whenever possible, I like to work from life. Nothing beats observing and interacting with a real thing. So, sometimes I’ll collect specimens, but I’m very careful to only collect things with permission. If I’m studying something I cannot collect, like coral or shelled animals, I take lots of reference photographs instead.

Many of my collected specimens are fallen leaves, common household plants or weeds. I’m not snobby with my choice of subjects. Even the humblest plants and animals have beauty and interesting structures.

I also keep sketchbooks full of research notes and drawings, and I have vast libraries of reference images I’ve gathered over the years. All of this collected and collated research helps inform my final artwork designs.

the creative proceSS

Once I know what to stitch, I sketch my final design to scale on paper. I also choose a colour pallet from my ever-expanding thread collection.

If I’m using a new combination of colours, I’ll make a little stitched swatch to make sure the colours blend. I love to incorporate colour blending in my work. I can create all kinds of new colours and textures by blending threads while stitching.

I next transfer the basic outline of the design onto a sheet of water-soluble fabric and then stretch a section of the design in an embroidery hoop to stitch using the freehand machine embroidery technique.

Once my embroidery is completed and well connected, I wash the dissolvable base fabric away leaving just the stitched drawing behind. The thread drawing is then left to dry. It can also be shaped or moulded while drying to achieve more purposeful sculptural forms.

Meredith Woolnough, The New Neighbours (detail), 2017. 135cm (53”) diameter. Freehand embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins.

Meredith Woolnough, The 100 Embroideries Project, 2020. 100 artworks, each measuring 20cm x 20cm (8” x 8”). Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins on paper.

Meredith Woolnough, The 100 Embroideries Project (select framed artworks), 2020. 100 artworks, each measuring 20cm x 20 cm (8” x 8”).

Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery thread and pins on paper.

There are two main varieties of water-soluble fabric: the clear film variety (that looks like a sheet of plastic) and the washable web variety (that is white in colour and looks a lot like interfacing). Many artists use the clear film variety very successfully, but I hate it. It stretches, tears easily and is difficult to wash away. It often just turns into a big gluey mess. So, I don’t recommend that variety for this style of embroidery.

I prefer the washable web variety. It’s strong enough to use a single sheet as a base material on its own, and it washes away quickly and easily in hot water. This variety does have some limitations and quirks I need to work around. For example, it tears easily. But I have developed techniques to prevent or repair tearing, so that is rarely a problem for me anymore. It’s all about learning the possibilities and limitations of your materials.

Most of my works are displayed in box frames, and I have a specific mounting system I call ‘shadow mounting’ that allows a work to cast beautiful shadows and show greater depth and dimension.

I subtly secure the embroidery on fine pins that allow the embroidery to float away from the backing board. This display method is a hugely important and iconic part of my work. For me, embroideries that are mounted flat lose some of their magic. I prefer my embroideries to appear to be floating in the frame showing off their beautiful lace-like nature.

I experimented with so many crazy ideas before I settled on this process. I now teach an online course showcasing my shadow mounting process, as I believe it can be applied to many forms of textile art.

FavoUrite SeWiNg MachiNeS

I work with two sewing machines. Almost all my work is embroidered on a long arm machine (Bernina Q20) because it has lots of room to move. It’s more ergonomically correct than a standard machine, which is important since I stitch for many hours a day.

I also have a large domestic machine (Bernina 735) which I use any time I need to do zigzag stitching. The long arm can only do straight stitch freehand work, so I need to go back to a regular machine if I want to do anything fancier.

I prefer to work with machine embroidery threads because they are nice and strong, which is required for this type of embroidery. Machine embroidery threads also have a lovely subtle lustre when stitched that I like.

Meredith Woolnough, Precious Possibilities (stitching the individual cells), 2021.

StitchiNg aloNgSide a ScieNtiSt

I was fortunate to be invited to participate in ‘The Art of Cells’ project developed by Gibco (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Its aim was to explore the amazing beauty of cell research by pairing scientists from around the world with artists who would artistically interpret their scientific findings.

The scientists were first asked to write a ‘love letter’ about why they love the cells they research. They then shared those letters with the artists, followed by further discussions.

I was paired with the lovely Dr. Marietta Hartl who researches early embryonic cell cultures. Her love letter described how amazed she was seeing the beauty of cells with her own eyes and how she felt like a child at Christmas peering through her microscope and watching cells develop over time. Dr. Hartl felt honoured to learn more about nature by watching cells build sophisticated structures from scratch.

She ended her letter by saying watching me experience the joy of discovering cells brought nearly the same joy as her own initial experience and that there can never be enough people falling in love with their cells.

I went into the project with no idea what I would be making, and it was quite scary. But I was pleasantly surprised to see how incredibly beautiful cells could be. The microscopic images were like something from an alien world, glowing and pulsing with life. It was amazing to think those clusters of embryonic cells were the starting points of life.

The campaign was such a great project. It pushed me in new directions, and it was an incredibly interesting experience to work collaboratively. I hope to do more of these types of projects in the future.

Meredith working in her studio.

Embroidery process, work in progress.

Meredith Woolnough

A NATURAL TALENT

School of Stitched Textiles

Meredith Woolnough is an internationally acclaimed, award winning artist and author from Newcastle, Australia. Her work is held in public, private and corporate collections worldwide. Inspired by the patterns, structures and shapes found in plants, coral, cells and shells Meredith’s embroideries represent both the robust beauty and elegant fragility of life. Specialising in open work embroidery, she often displays her work in shadowboxes – like preserved specimens – so that people can study the intricate beauty and detail of her pieces. We’re so excited to have the chance to speak with Meredith and share her amazing work with you.

SSt Tell us about the piece you’re currently working on. What was your inspiration for it, what is it made from, the processes involved and what is it being made for?

MW I have just completed working on a large venus coral fan embroidery. I have always been drawn to the beautiful structures and colours seen in coral fans (Alcyonacea) and this piece is one of many studies which focuses on these fascinating animals. My pieces are created using polyester embroidery threads and a water-soluble base fabric to create my artworks. These are then stitched on a domestic sewing machine, but the machine is not automated in any way. It is set up so that I can simply draw with the machine by moving my base fabric

Meredith Woolnough, Red Coral Fan (in progress), 2021.

Meredith Woolnough, a collection of small embroideries.

around the needle, it is a technique often referred to as ‘freehand machine embroidery. This technique is the equivalent of moving a sheet of paper rather than a pencil to do a drawing. The water-soluble base fabric that I use acts as a temporary surface for my drawing. Once the drawn structure is complete, I wash away this base fabric leaving my thread drawing behind. This drawing can then be shaped and moulded to give it more form. I am aiming to create a beautiful, realistic looking coral fan that you can proudly (and ethically) display on your wall. This piece will be included in my latest exhibition Biophilia.

SSt What was your first memory of stitching. Who taught you?

MW I remember playing with a few embroidery kits as a child but it wasn’t until I was at university that I studied embroidery in earnest. Freehand machine embroidery is a pretty standard technique and it was one of many processes I was introduced to during my textile studies at art school. I saw great creative potential in the combination of the freehand embroidery technique and water-soluble fabric, so I decided to focus my studies during my honours year on this combination of technique and materials. That was an amazing year because I was able to solidly dedicate time to experimenting and exploring. I fell in love with the process during that year and haven’t stopped working with it since.

SSt You take so much of your inspiration from the natural world. Are there some subjects you prefer to others?

MW I explore many different types of natural subjects and structures in my work but I seem to keep coming back to things in nature that have intricate veining systems. I have always been drawn to the beautiful interconnected structures in coral fans and leaf skeletons, so they are favourite subjects of mine.

SSt As someone who is trained in fine art and natural history illustration, how much of your current success do you attribute to your training. How much did it add to the artist you are today?

MW While formal training is certainly not necessary to work as an artist, in my case I believe the time I spent studying allowed me to develop hugely important aspects of my practice. As I already mentioned, it was during the honours year of my fine art degree that I developed the embroidery technique

Meredith Woolnough, Corallite Study #3 (in progress), 2022.

Woolnough at work in her studio.

that I still use today. Without that training I may have never discovered the technique and I would certainly not have been able to spend so long developing it. Most of the stitching techniques and technical tricks that I developed during that year I still use in the studio today.

My natural history illustration training helped me to develop a great passion for nature and solid fieldwork and research practices which I use in the developmental stages of my artwork. This course taught me to observe, understand and interpret the natural world from a more scientific approach, which really aligns with how my brain seems to work.

I believe that my various studies have been hugely instrumental in helping me develop into the artist I am today and I am incredible grateful for those learning opportunities.

SSt Your sewing machine is such a valuble piece of equipment for you and it is often a choice that our students worry over – do you have any suggestions for them as to how to choose a machine for embroidery?

MW You don’t need a specific type of machine for this type of embroidery. Any domestic machine in good working order should get you started. You just need to be able to drop or cover the feed dogs and add a darning or freehand presser foot. A few other things that are helpful in a machine are fast stitching speeds, good inbuilt lighting and a slide on sewing/ extension table. Personally, I have always worked on Bernina brand machines. They are well designed and made so I find them very reliable and enjoyable to stitch with. My advice to anyone who is looking to buy a sewing machine is to purchase the absolute best one you can afford at the time. A sewing machine is a long-term investment. Get a good one, take care of it and it will serve you well for life.

SSt Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party?

MW If I had to choose someone to sit next to at a dinner party it would be David Attenborough. I would love to chat to him about weird and wonderful natural phenomena.

SSt What’s next for you?

MW Over the next few months I will concentrating on promoting my online courses, which will be released soon. I have an exhibition at the CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra and another Pop up Exhibition at the Thrive Wellness Centre.

Meredith Woolnough, Clear Resin Collection, 2012.

Meredith Woolnough, Typologies, 2015.

Creators — Meredith Woolnough

Julia Krolik

MW I have always had interests in both, but my formal studies started in art. I studied Fine Art at University fresh out of high school and it was during my final year that I developed the embroidery process that I am still working with today. I was drawn to the sculptural possibilities of a freehand embroidery technique and I loved that I could draw with my sewing machine. The science came later as I began to study the natural forms and structures I was depicting in my work. I became fascinated with my subjects and wanted to learn all that I could about them. This led to more formalized studies in Natural History Illustration. This was the perfect course for me because it combined scientific study with creative expression. As a result of these studies, I now start every artwork with fieldwork and research to help inform and inspire my designs. This has resulted in what I hope are more accurate and stronger artworks overall.

JK Which came first in your life, the science or the art?

Meredith Woolnough, Nature Studies, 2014.

JK Which sciences relate to your art practice?

MW Biology – in particular marine biology and botany.

JK What materials do you use to create your artworks?

MW I use a synthetic embroidery thread and a water-soluble fabric to create my work. The water-soluble fabric is what makes my work possible. It acts as a temporary surface that I can draw on with stitches. The fabric is then dissolved leaving my lace-like stitched drawing behind.

JK Artwork/Exhibition you are most proud of:

MW I currently have a large installation in the Tamworth Textile Triennial. This exhibition is the most prestigious textile event in Australia and I am very honoured to have been asked to participate this year. My work in the exhibition The New Neighbours, which is inspired by the current plight of our coral reefs, consist of over 400 individual embroideries pinned to the wall. It was a huge effort to make and I am very proud of it.

JK Which scientists and/or artists inspire and/or have influenced you?

MW I am inspired by artists who look to the natural world for inspiration. Some of my favourites include Andy Goldsworthy and Bronwyn Oliver.

Meredith Woolnough at work in her studio.

Meredith Woolnough, Red Coral Bowl, 2015

Turning Over a New Leaf

Janet de Boer

Mesmerised by the shapes and forms she observes on land and in the sea, Australian artist Meredith Woolnough’s delicate embroideries capture the wonder of nature without harming the environment.

Finely honed craftsmanship enhances the artistic impact of Meredith Woolnough’s works. She turns systematically to nature for inspiration and the outcome is a series of sculpted embroideries with a clear modern aesthetic, both compelling and memorable – a whirlpool of beauty that takes us deeper and deeper, like the spirals and whorls to which the young Woolnough is clearly addicted.

From what she describes as ‘the amazing unconstrained shapes and forms’ of coral to the intriguing qualities of the scientific specimen box to the arterial veins in leaves, Woolnough has an unending source of subject matter to interpret and is finding her work has such appeal that she cannot keep up with demand. A subtext for her is the wish to create a substitute for the natural world – a world that must be protected. As she says: ‘I hope that people will see my work as the piece of coral that you can feel good about putting in your home.’

Her passion for snorkelling and scuba diving can be indulged readily on the east coast of Australia, especially north of Woolnough’s home in Newcastle, NSW, as you travel up the coast and over the Queensland border and eventually reach the start of the 1,400 kilometre phenomenon that is known as the

Meredith Woolnough, Mushroom Coral Circle, 2015. 93 x 93cm

Meredith Woolnough, Golden Ginkgo Square, 2014. 70 x 70cm.

Great Barrier Reef. This vast resource is not the only one she has explored however. A place she also speaks of with reverence is Palau, where the slow moving currents allow the coral to grow into ‘amazing unconstrained shapes and forms’. The sketchpad is irrelevant when you are underwater so Woolnough continually works on fine tuning her observational abilities, creating ‘a visual library in the mind’.

In contrast, when walking in bushland – another major source of inspiration – she creates rough sketches, taking them home for a detailed process of refinement. There is nothing rough remaining in her polished and seemingly perfect replicas, informed by her highly individual choice in colours. Rather than mimic nature, she contrasts her organic forms with the surprise of strong colours, synthetic in feeling, thus enhancing the impact of her pieces.

Woolnough has a great attraction to specimen collections as well, calling attention to ‘the power in repetition’. For her, they also speak of the naturalist’s wish to explore and compare traits and features. The science of nature is as important to her as the visual appeal of many small, beautifully formed fragments. Connective systems are often depicted and speak, in a microcosm, for the whole connectivity of nature.

Meredith Woolnough, Spring Leaves, 2016. 65 x 65cm.

The horizons created through freehand embroidery stretch out as a challenge to many who seek to use the sewing machine as their paintbrush. The top thread reaches down to engage the thread beneath; top and bottom join in a kind of knot, moving with restless intent over the fabric. When reworked many times, the sculptural effects begin to dominate. When all this takes place on water soluble fabric, it becomes possible to abandon the background in the final stages, as it is dissolved, and then deal with an object that has the qualities of a three dimensional tracery – a sculptural drawing composed from a skeleton of stitches.

To enhance the sculptural effect, Woolnough uses a system of pinning to mount her work, with the heads of the pins eventually painted to match the areas they imprison. Thus the works float above the backing board and, depending on the lighting, dramatic organic shadows become an important part of the final product. The pinning is also reminiscent of preserving the natural specimens that so intrigue her.

Woolnough keeps her eye on the market. Since relinquishing her teaching career, determined to make her income from her art, she understands this demands an engagement with the buying public. The pinned work is custom framed behind glass, giving the buyer confidence; creating the effect of a delicate treasure, carefully handled.

‘I studied Fine Art at university, straight out of high school and it was there that I fell in love with textiles, free machine embroidery in particular.’ She received her BFA with First Class Honours in 2006 from the University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts and continued on to get a Masters of Teaching in 2008. While the coral specimens became a fascination in 2009, creating them was juggled with her teaching career. So in 2012 she decided to pursue ‘the seemingly unrealistic dream of making it as an artist and yes, it has been a rocky road at times’. She had to become her own photographer, web designer, social networker, publicist and secretary. She rents office and studio space in the Newcastle Community Arts Centre and stresses the importance of a place of her own, ‘not just strewing things around the house . . .’

Woolnough admits she loves commissions and creating bespoke pieces, and is often asked how long her work takes to make. Small ones may only take a few days but, ‘most pieces are with me for a long time – there is a lot of labour involved. . . The larger pieces can take me weeks, even months’. Given the amount of time she must spend in the office, attending to the business of being self employed, Woolnough cherishes the opportunity to sketch, plan and sew, and strives to make sure this happens each day as an essential process in feeding the business of art.

The business grew ‘one exhibition at a time’. Now she is challenged by works that can be installed directly onto the gallery wall. She has already been collected by two of Australia’s regional galleries, which have a textile focus: Wangaratta Art Gallery and Tamworth Regional Gallery. Plus she is able to list ‘collected in Australia and internationally’ on her CV. In 2014 she received the Craft NSW Emerging Artist Craft Award and acknowledges how important a validation this was to her.

When an object intensifies our experience it moves beyond fine craftsmanship towards art. The robust beauty of Woolnough’s forms, contrasted with their elegant fragility is a source of intensification, as is the power of repetition, and pursuing the limits of scale. Now, more than 50 million stitches later, her skills and her output truly set her apart in a class of her own.

Meredith Woolnough, Amazonian Water Lily, 2014.

Meredith Woolnough, Blue Coral Bowl, 2015.

Interview with Meredith Woolnough

Maria Rosaria Roseo

Meredith Woolnough is a visual artist that works and lives near the coastal region of Newcastle NSW, Australia. Her elegant embroidered traceries capture the beauty and fragility of nature in knotted embroidery threads. Meredith’s work is held in both private and corporate collections worldwide. Her works express the essence of her art better than simple words can.

Mrr Meredith, can you tell us how your passion for machine embroidery started?

MW I have always found embroidery relaxing and enjoyable but I didn’t get excited about machine embroidery until I was introduced to the freehand embroidery technique while at University. This technique allowed me to drawwith my sewing machine and my mind just burst with ideas and possibilities.

I then spent my entire honours year focusing on the freehand machine embroidery technique, specifically working onto water-soluble fabric. I learnt so much and really fell in love with the process along the way. I made lots of mistakes that year as I tried to push the limits of the technique. Now almost 13 year later I am still discovering new ways to work with this embroidery process and I still love it!

Meredith Woolnough, Spiramirabilius.

Mrr The subjects of your work are exclusively elements of the natural landscape. Why this choice?

MW Quite simply, I have always been drawn to the natural world and find endless sources of inspiration in it. I am a bit of a science nerd and I love to combine my love for biology and botany with my passion for embroidery.

Mrr Your embroidery technique involves the use of a textile support that dissolves in water. The completed work is delicately three-dimensional. Can you tell us about your technique and how you developed it?

MW Water-soluble fabric is the magic ingredient in my work. This material is what made me want to explore this type of machine embroidery in the first place. I loved the idea that I could do a drawing in thread and then wash the base fabric away. I felt like I was liberating my drawing from the fabric and giving it new life as a three dimensional object.

I didn’t develop the freehand machine embroidery technique, nor it’s use on water-soluble fabrics. I can’t claim any of that. But I have certainly developed specific approaches to the technique that give me the results I want.

The freehand process is actually very simple. I turn all the settings on my sewing machine off so that it is just that needle going up and down really fast. I then move my base fabric around the needle to build up a drawing in thread. It is the equivalent of moving a sheet of paper rather than a pencil to do a drawing. The water-soluble base fabric that I use acts as a temporary surface for my drawing. Once the drawn structure is complete, I wash away this base fabric leaving my threaddrawing behind. This drawing can then be shaped and molded to give it more form. I generally mount my drawings onto pins to display them. I got that idea from studying insect specimen collections.

Mrr What kind of yarns do you use for your work? Do you like to experiment with unusual materials?

MW I am pretty traditional in my use of thread. I work exclusively with polyester machine embroidery thread because it is reliable and I like the surface quality it produces when it is densely stitched. I haven’t experiment with many other thread types for a long time. I haven’t felt the need to. I will occasionally experiment by stitching other materials into my drawings. I will trap fresh leaves, papers and fabrics in

Meredith Woolnough, Azure Ammonite, 2015, 93 x 103cm, embroidery thread and pins on paper.

Meredith Woolnough, Hydrangea Leaf, 2018.

between my stitches. But I haven’t been happy with these experiments just yet, so I am counting them as art play rather than art work.

Mrr Do you use a sketchbook to design and create your art work? Do you also use computer tools such as digital printing, photoshop…?

MW I do a lot of sketchbook work as a lead up to my designs. I have a number of ‘nature journals’ that I use to document the things that interest me from the natural world. These sketches and notes often lead to further research and eventually to the designs that become my embroideries.

I occasionally use Photoshop to edit photographs I have taken while doing fieldwork. But this is rare. It’s mostly all done with pencil and paper. I’m a bit ‘old school’ like that.

Mrr Thanks to the use of threads, transparency and the absence of a fabric as a background for your work, your sculptures express an idea of fragility and lightness. What is more precisely the role of empty spaces (transparency) in your art works?

MW I aspire to capture lightness and fragility in my work – so I am very glad that you identified that.

My main reason for including negative space in my embroideries is because they allow for creation of wonderful shadows. When my pieces are lit well there is a dance of shadow patterns projected behind the artwork. I go to great lengths to always mount my work a few centimeters proud of the backing board or gallery wall so that I get this shadow effect. I feel these shadows add another dimension to the work and give my embroideries life.

Mrr Meredith, a few weeks ago, we included in our ArteMorbida website the review of your book “Organic Embroidery.” Can you tell our readers how the project of this book and its contents was born?

MW The book came about because so many people were begging for it. There seems to be a lot of interest in my work and in this specific form of embroidery. So when I was offered the opportunity to write a book, I jumped at it. If I had known how much work it was going at the time I may have hesitated. But now that it is all done I am very happy with how it turned out.

In Organic Embroidery I share all that I know and love about working from nature and the embroidery process that

Meredith Woolnough, Caladium, 2016, 81.5 x 66cm, embroidery thread and pins on paper.

Meredith Woolnough, Ginkgo Biloba Study.

I use to create my artworks. I discuss my practice from start to finish with lots of stories about my favorite artworks along the way. There are plenty of instructional elements throughout the book as well.

Mrr How has your work evolved from the first pieces to date?

MW My early work was purely experimental. I just played with the possibilities of this embroidery technique, scribbling all sorts of shapes and structures to see what would happen when I washed the base fabric away. Basically, I made a lot of tangled messes to begin with. While still at University I developed a way of stitching densely so I could create more solid, purposeful forms.

Once out of university I moved onto nature inspired work. This began with a series of small circular pieces inspired by coral patterns. This range was very popular so I kept making work along this theme for a few years, becoming deeply fascinated by coral as a result.

Following my coral obsession I started to introduce other subjects into my repertoire; such as leaves and shells. I was drawn to these because, like coral, they have beautiful and intricate structures. Today I am still focused on natural structures. I keep going deeper and deeper down that rabbit hole. I am always on the look out for something new and fascinating to study and depict in thread.

Mrr What are you working on right now? Do you want to tell us about your current textile projects and current or future exhibitions?

MW Right now I am working on a new body of work for the exhibitions I have coming up later this year. I am studyingsomenative plants in my local area, focusing on the leaves from certain Banksia and Eucalypt species. I start by collecting a bunch of real leaves, studying and sketching them. Then I will develop a drawn design that will translate well into embroidery.

I am planning on having a series of large circular arrangements featuring these leaf types, along with some smaller studies. So far I have made one large ‘leaf circle’ which is a tight arrangement made up of over one hundred leaves. It took me over a month to stitch. Hopefully the others won’t be so time consuming because I have lots of wall space to fill in those upcoming exhibitions.

Meredith Woolnough, First four Leaf studies of 2019.

Meredith Woolnough, Petal Bowl.

My new favourite marine critter — the Argonaut

Meredith Woolnough

Recently I was gifted a particularly beautiful shell by a friend who knew that I liked to collect such things. The shell was paper thin, translucent, and covered in rows upon rows of little bumps. I was in love.

This curious specimen sparked a research rampage on my part until I tracked down the original owner of the shell and it’s story.

It turns out that my shell is not strictly a shell; it is in fact the egg case of a female Argonauta nodosa, commonly referred to as a Paper Nautilus. Argonauts are a group of pelagic octopuses and the lady Argonauts make these delicate egg cases to use as a brood chamber and also to help control their buoyancy in the water. Cool huh!

As you can see in the images this octopus sits very differently to most other octopuses. Female argonauts slip themselves into the egg case so that their mouth is exposed at the front and their eight arms are tucked back into the case. The females have two specialised webbed tentacles that secrete the shell and can be wrapped around the egg case to hold it in place. They move around with the help of an enlarged funnel that they use to jet around the place. The chromatophores in the octopus’s skin allow it to shift from a almost translucent white colour to a vivid purple, red or orange in a split second.

Argonauta nodosa, female in shell.

Image by: David Paul

I have always been a lover of cephalopods and have previously created artworks inspired by the shells of the Nautilus and Ammonites (a prehistoric cephalopod). But I think these little guys are now my new favorite. They are just so weirdly wonderful!

See the bottom of this post for links to a great video and some further readings.

So once I knew a bit about these creatures I just had to create an embroidered artwork based on these beautiful egg cases. Although my egg case came from a species that is local to Australia; Argonauta nodosa (commonly known as the knobbed Argonaut) my design was based on the more widely distributed Argonauta argo (also knows as the greater Argonaut).

I was torn between creating a bright colourful interpretation of the shell or a subtle white piece that more closely referenced that natural colouring of the egg case.

So in the end … I made both.

After mapping the ribbed pattern on an Argonauta argo egg case I created a brightly coloured piece using my favourite colour scheme of reds and oranges. I moulded the piece when it was drying to give it a subtle curved shape and pinned its edges directly down onto the mounting board so that it retained this three dimensionality within the narrow box frame.

I loved the bright red/orange version of the shell but I still wanted to attempt a white version. White has always been a difficult colour for me to work with because I have to restrict my drawn guidelines so I don’t stain the white yarn. But after a bit of experimentation (and a few close calls) I was able to replicate the design in pure white.

This white piece was very difficult to capture (forgive my crappy, over edited image above – white on white is tricky to shoot) Unfortunately the photo’s don’t capture the depth and subtle texture of this piece - but hopefully you can still get a bit of a feel for the piece.

Woolnough pinning Red Paper Nautilus into place prior to framing

Sewing Red Paper Nautilus

Meredith Woolnough INTERVIEW WITH X-RAY MAG

Gunild Symes

x-raY Mag Tell us about yourself, your background and how you became an artist.

MW I have always loved making things. As a child I was always painting, drawing and creating. So it seemed very natural for me to study fine arts at university once I finished up high school. I didn’t expected to come out of uni and become an artist. That didn’t seem like a ‘real job’ or a ‘proper career’, so I did what many art students seem to fall back on and I became a teacher. I worked as a high school visual art, textiles and design teacher for several years before I started to exhibit my own embroidered artwork as a bit of a side project. The response to my work in these early exhibitions was so overwhelmingly positive that in 2012 I decided to throw in the teaching towel and pursue this seemingly unrealistic dream of making it as an artist.

It’s been a rocky road at times but things have kept growing, and I feel like I am finally starting to make it all come together. I have had some really successful exhibitions, won a few awards and people seem to want to collect my work, so I must be doing something right. Sometimes I can’t really believe that I am doing this as a job. I feel like someone will come along any day now and tell me, “Okay, you have had your fun, but now you need to get back to a real job.” I hope that day never comes.

x-raY Mag Why coral and ocean specimens? How did you come to this theme?

Meredith Woolnough in her studio

Meredith Woolnough, Orange Nautilus.

MW I have always found the ocean to be an incredibly inspiring place. It is so alien and bizarrely beautiful down there. Everywhere you look there is something to see and discover. I vividly remember the first time I snorkeled on a coral reef as a child and the beautiful colours and structures of the coral blew me away. Everyone else was looking at the fish—and yes, the fish are amazing and beautiful—but I was fascinated by the corals themselves. I just fell in love with those delicate structures. This love for coral obviously stayed with me, and I started to work with coral specimens in my embroidered work around 2009 when I created a series of small embroidered pieces inspired by various coral shapes and structures. The series was vividly coloured with the exception of one little piece in the corner that was perfectly white and almost lost in the white paper and frame—a subtle comment on the issues of coral bleaching.

x-raY Mag How did you develop your artwork with embroidery and textiles over time?

MW The particular embroidery technique that I use was something that I developed when I was in my final honours year at university. For that year I chose to work with a process of drawing with a domestic sewing machine onto a water-soluble base fabric so that I could create embroidered pieces that were liberated from the base fabric. By taking embroidery ‘off the fabric’ I could create very sculptural pieces and the possibilities were endless. I am still working with that same technique, and I keep finding new ways to work with it and push its limits.

x-raY Mag What is your artistic method or creative process? How do you create your artworks?

MW My work starts with a clear idea for a design—usually a pattern or a structure that I have seen in nature such as a coral branch or a shell—something that sparks my interest. I will then sketch on paper until I am happy with the balance of the overall design, and I’m sure that the structure will translate to embroidery well. Once the design is finalized, I will transfer the design onto a sheet of water-soluble fabric and embroider the piece. My process is basically drawing with a sewing machine and building up the design so that it is all connected and very dense. Then when I dissolve the base fabric away, I am just left with my stitched structure. I have developed a way of displaying the works so that they appear to float off the backing board, so that they cast dramatic shadows in the right lighting.

Meredith Woolnough, Mushroom Coral Mandala.

Meredith Woolnough, Sea Spiral.

x-raY Mag What is your relationship to the underwater world and coral reefs? Are you a scuba diver or snorkeler and how has this influenced your art? In your relationship with reefs and the sea, where have you had your favorite experiences?

MW I have grown up in and around the ocean and always have had a deep love and respect for it. I learnt to scuba dive on a holiday to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, when I was 19, and I fell I love with the sport. Diving gave me the freedom to stay and observe the reef in a totally new way; I could go down and see coral from every angle and to get up close like never before. It was very liberating. Since then whenever I plan a holiday, I try to go somewhere that will give me a new diving opportunity. Last December I was lucky enough to visit Palau, which is a magical place, both above and below the waves. The diving there is some of the best in the world, and the quantity and variety of ocean life I saw was phenomenal. For a coral fanatic like me it was just amazing to snorkel around the rock islands in Palau. Because of the slow moving currents around the islands, the coral grows into amazing unconstrained shapes and forms.

x-raY Mag What are your thoughts on ocean conservation and coral reef management, and how does your artwork relate to these issues?

MW Like so many other divers, I am deeply concerned about the threats that our oceans and reefs face, and my work always has a subtle environmental undercurrent through it. My coral work in particular reflects upon the use of coral as an adornment for our homes and our bodies. The tradition of collecting fragments of the natural world for display in our homes is common, but we rarely stop to reflect on the ethics and the environmental impacts of the practice. I hope that people will see my work as the piece of coral that you can feel good about putting in your home.

x-raY Mag What is the message or experience you want viewers of your artwork to have or understand?

MW I hope that when people see my work they are fascinated by it and want to learn more about not only the artwork itself but also about the life forms that I am depicting. I want people to look closer, to question, and in doing so, discover. My work seems to resonate with people who already have a love for the ocean, but I hope that my work may inspire people to go and see the reefs for themselves and appreciate the amazing environment that is just beyond our shores.

Meredith Woolnough, Star Coral Bowl.

Meredith Woolnough, Coral Cluster Circle.

x-raY Mag What are the challenges and/or benefits of being an artist in the world today?

MW Trying to make this crazy dream of being an artist a reality has been the most challenging but satisfying thing I have ever done. It’s a crazy job, the hours are long, the work is often frustrating, there is very little financial security, and you never know what’s going to happen next. I have had to quickly learn how to run a small business and all the marketing and administration elements that go with it—most of which they don’t teach you at art school. But despite the difficulties and insecurities, I love that I have found a way to turn my creative ideas and visions into a product that people enjoy—it’s a great adventure.

x-raY Mag How do people/children respond to your works? What feedback or insights have you gained from the process of showing your work to various audiences?

MW People are generally fascinated with my work and can’t figure out what it is—which I guess makes sense; it doesn’t look at all like traditional embroidery. With some of my coral branches, people often think they are real pieces of coral until they get up close, and then they are often even more confused. I love that my work can instill such a sense of wonder in people.

x-raY Mag As a teacher what is your approach or philosophy in sharing your knowledge and experience about art, corals and ocean specimens?

MW Although I am not in the school classroom anymore, I still love teaching and have really enjoyed being able to teach my processes to others through workshops and master classes. Some artists are very protective of their processes and techniques, but I enjoy sharing what I have learnt, and it’s great to see how people take it into new directions. Funnily enough, when I teach the embroidery process, there seems to be lots of coral inspired embroideries being created in the workshops—I’m not sure if that comes from my influence or if coral patterns just lend well to this particular embroidery technique.

x-raY Mag What are your upcoming projects, art courses or events?

MW I am at a bit of a turning point in my work right now. I am starting to work towards more instillation-based pieces that will be mounted directly onto walls, rather than framed. I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that this type of work will create.

Meredith Woolnough, Stitched Specimens, 2015.

Meredith Woolnough, Leaf Circle (angle view), 2018.

My Early Embroidery Days

Meredith Woolnough

When I first started doing this kind of embroidery I really didn’t know what I was doing. I was just a keen kid with a sewing machine and a lot of creative curiosity.

My first attempts with these techniques were entirely experimental. I just got an idea in my head and went ahead and did it without too much worry about how it would turn out. It was a great way to work and I wish that I could revisit that headspace now. I was so enthusiastic and excited about everything that I did and made.

I thought I would share a few of my early experiments with you today. Many artists are reluctant to share their earliest works because they are, well, normally pretty crappy. But I think that we should celebrate our starting points, even if they may seem a bit cringe-worthy.

All of the pieces below were created during my honours year at University while I was studying for a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in 2006. it was during that year that I fell in love with this style of embroidery and many of these early experiments laid the groundwork for how I work today.

So here goes ….

MY FirSt piece oF Free-MotioN eMbroiderY oN Fabric

The year before I threw myself into this kind of embroidery I had created a series of ‘dye drawings’. These pieces were made

My first attempt at a sculpted embroidery. I shaped this little piece between two spoons.

My first attempt at a piece of Freehand Machine Embroidery (2006)

by laying fiber reactive dye granules and threads down on watercolor paper and lightly spraying them with water. When I added the water the dye sprang to life and flowed around the paper creating soft abstract patterns. It was a really fun, spontaneous mark-making process. I then cut these sheets of paper up into little ovals and embellished them with ink drawings and hand embroidery. I ended up making about 20 of them from memory. One of my favorite pieces from the series is pictured above, on the left.

When I first sat down to try my hand at free-motion embroidery the following year I had it in my head that I wanted to recreate my very spontaneous abstract ‘dye drawings’ as a very purposeful stitched drawing. I set about painstakingly replicating the design in stitches. From memory, it took me at least a week of solid stitching to make this one little piece. It measures around 20cm from top to bottom.

You can see my ‘stitched recreation’ above, on the right. It’s pretty close to the original I think.

As my first serious piece of freehand machine embroidery, I was pretty happy with this little pink-and-white mat of threads. This piece helped me to develop a really good way to stitch densely by doing lots of little overlapping squiggles. I work in a similar way today, so this was a pivotal piece for me.

MY FirSt (pUrpoSeFUllY) ScUlpted piece oF eMbroiderY

Above is my first attempt at purposefully shaping an embroidery. Before this experiment, I was pressing most of my embroideries flat, or just letting them dry naturally and curl up however they liked. But I wanted to see if I could get my embroiderers to dry in a set shape, so I squished this piece between two dessert spoons I found in the studio cutlery draw and let it dry overnight. And, it worked!

This tiny piece was another groundbreaking moment for me because I realised I could purposefully shape my embroideries and they would stay in that shape once they were dry. Mind blown!

Don’t worry I washed the spoons thoroughly before I put them back in the drawer.

Following my spoon experiment, I went on to create a bunch of purposefully shaped pieces. The most memorable being a sculpted mask, which was really rather creepy. Sadly a lot of these early sculpted experiments were lost or given away so I don’t have good records of them today. But I still have this little green spoon piece. So that’s something.

Meredith Woolnough, Hanging Threads, 2006.

My first attempt at a piece of Freehand Machine Embroidery (2006)

MY FavoUrite piece FroM MY FirSt Year

The piece on the top left was a prototype for the large hanging embroideries that became the focus works in my honours year exhibition. Funnily enough, I like this prototype more than the final artworks I produced.

To create this piece I stitched a series of little circular ‘cells’ each one connected to its neighbours to create a circular disk. I then went back and attached long trailing threads to the centres of each of the cells. To do this I simply did a few stitches to anchor my thread then I pulled the piece out of the machine allowing my top and bobbin thread to unravel out to arm’s length. I then cut the threads and started on the next cell and repeated that process until the whole piece was covered with trailing threads.

It was my initial goal to somehow display the piece like it is pictured above, with the disk seemingly suspended in the centre of all of those threads. But I never did develop a good way to do that well. I rigged up a very dodgy set up with a pole taped to a stool just to get this photo. That setup clearly wasn’t exhibition worthy so this photo is the closest thing I have to my initial vision.

I then went on to stitch three enlarged versions of this disk idea and they became my final artworks for the honours exhibition. I was never really happy with those final, larger works. They are in a box somewhere now, perhaps I will share them with you one day.

This little ‘hanging threads’ piece is still hanging in my studio. It shares a hanging hook with my metal ruler and it acts as a nice daily reminder of where I started and how I have grown.

2006, when I did my honours year, feels like a lifetime ago.

Now I am quite a different person and artist. My practice has defiantly been refined over the last decade or so and I miss the playful experimentation phase of the early years. I don’t experiment like this so much now because I have solid practices in place and I also have a really thorough understanding of the strengths and limitations of my medium. Thankfully, even without the playful experimentation I still love this style of embroidery and continue to get excited when trying new designs and ideas.

Meredith Woolnough, Tiny Embroidered Pieces, 2012.

Sewing machine up close.

Catalog

Meredith Woolnough, Precious Possibilities (detail), 2021. 50cm x 50cm (20” x 20”). Freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric. Embroidery threads and pins on paper.

Red Cabbage

2014

Embroidery thread and pins on paper 100 x 100cm Framed in a white shadowbox

This piece was created for the 2014 ‘Taste of Textiles’ exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery. For this unique exhibitions 20 textile artists from around the world were each asked to create an artwork that was inspired by a fresh produce food (fruit, vegetable, spice etc.) Each chosen produce would then be used as the hero ingredient in a recipe that was developed by a local cook. From this collection of food inspired art and art inspired recipes a lovely exhibition was developed.

For my contribution to the exhibition I chose red cabbage because I have always loved the fractal like patterns that are revealed when the cabbage is cut in half.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I love good food. If you want to get on my good side just send some home cooked goodness my way and I will be your friend for life. So when Anne Kempton (director of Timeless Textiles gallery) asked me to be a part of an art exhibition that combined food and textile art I naturally jumped at the chance.

For this unique exhibitions 20 textile artists from around the world were each asked to create an artwork that was inspired by a fresh produce food (fruit, vegetable, spice etc.) Each chosen produce would then be used as the hero ingredient in a recipe that was developed by the extraordinary local cook Bev Whitehead. From this collection of food inspired art and art inspired recipes a lovely exhibition was developed.

As a part of the exhibition a delightful limited edition box set was developed that is part art book and part recipe book. This cute little tin box contains a lovely set of cards with beautiful images of that artworks in the exhibition as well as the corresponding recipe that was inspired by the artwork.

Cushion Plants

Several years ago while hiking in Tasmania with my husband and then 18-month-old daughter I was quite taken by some strange little plants we encountered on the track. They were tiny plants that grew together tightly, forming their own little world. They look almost like masses of mini succulents clustered together to form large mats or carpets on the ground. I remember stopping to examine these plants closely at the time. I was drawn to them for some reason. To be fair I am drawn to lots of natural things when I go on walks. My husband will attest that I’m very slow and frustrating to hike with because I always want to stop, examine, and photograph things. I had no idea what these plants were when I found them, I just thought they were super cool and I wanted to learn more.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of this tiny plant world at the time I found them during that hike. Something I have regretted to this day. I likely had my hands full of demanding toddler at the time and was only afforded the luxury of a short visual examination of this tiny flora world.

I had largely forgotten about this curious collection of Tasmanian plants until a few months ago when a lovely collector reached out wanting to commission an artwork for his wife’s birthday. This collector and his wife too had fond memories of hiking in Tasmania. He shared loads of lovely pictures of the beautiful things they had encountered on one of their trips to serve as inspiration for an artwork. The photo’s included some shots of the same carpet of tiny plants that had captivated me on my own trip several years prior. A lovely coincidence and a great excuse to explore this group of plants further in my art.

So I got stuck into studying these plants. I still wasn’t sure what they were, I initially assumed they were a type of moss. But with further study I soon learned they were known as cushion plants. The term cushion plant refers to the plant’s characteristic growth habit. They form a mat-like structure of tightly packed stems of different plants, all growing at the same very slow rate in order to protect each other from the wind and cold. Cushion plants have an important role in alpine ecosystems in Tasmania, creating a sturdy base for other alpine plants to set seed and grow.

When it came to developing my own interpretation of cushion plants in embroidery I was faced with a real challenge. This was unlike anything I had stitched before and these tightly packed plants didn’t leave room for the characteristic negative space I like to include in my works.

So I knew I needed to think and work differently for this one. Which i’ll be honest was daunting. I didn’t know if I could pull it off. But I was also really excited by the challenge. This is one of the great things about commission work. They often push me into new, slightly uncomfortable areas where I can really explore and grow as an artist.

Gold to Green Ginkgo Circle

2021 Embroidery threads and pins on paper 63 x 63cm (framed size)

You know I love these kinds of designs and I am not going to stop making them any time soon. But I am really excited about this one in particular because I have managed to capture something that I have been trying to depict for years. More on that in just a little while.

First, I thought I would take you through the process of creation for this piece.

To start with, the design was sketched up one afternoon in the studio while my baby daughter was taking a nap. I have been drawing these leaves for so long now and I am so familiar with their structure that I don’t require reference images to work from. I could probably draw Ginkgo leaves in my sleep by now (coral fan’s too).

As many of you know I have been stitching ginkgo leaves for years now. They are one of my favourite subjects. But my ginkgo artworks are usually just one colour. Most of the time I stitch them in a vibrant buttery yellow, the colour the leaves turn in autumn. Occasionally I switch to a fresh green colour, the colour of summer ginkgo leaves. I have never used both colours in the same ginkgo artwork - but I have always wanted to.

I think ginkgo leaves are at their prettiest when they are part way through changing colours. When they are fading from green to yellow. Like the image below. Aren’t they beautiful?

Unfortunately, the technique I use to stitch my individual leaves doesn’t allow me to achieve this colour fade (not to my satisfaction anyway) but I was determined to capture this beautiful colour transition in this latest ginkgo circle. I may not be able to capture the colour fade in the individual leaves but I was confident I could pull the colour transition off across an arrangement of 30 leaves.

So I picked my colours, two yellows and two green’s, traced the design onto water-soluble fabric and set about stitching the design. I stitch my embroideries using a freehand machine embroidery method, which is pretty much drawing with a sewing machine. The water-soluble fabric is washed away once the embroidery is complete leaving my stitched leaves behind.

Normally when I’m stitching a piece it feels a bit like I am colouring in. I won’t say it’s a mindless act but I’m relaxed and it isn’t very mentally draining. I usually listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I stitch and I can easily juggle listening to something while my hands are busy sewing. But this piece was a bit different and I had to be much more switched on to my stitching than usual. Correct colour placement and blending were crucial to the success of this piece so I had to constantly stop and reflect upon where I was stitching and when I needed to change thread colours. I lost track of my audiobook constantly while making this piece but I really enjoyed the challenge this colour fade presented.

After dissolving this piece I pressed it flat for a few days before pinning it to Its final mount board ready for framing.

This piece depicts the feeding tentacles of the fan worm Sabella spallanzanii. The worm itself is mostly hidden inside its leathery tube, extending only the feathery feeding tentacles out of the top of its self made home. In this artwork I have focused on the worm’s crown of feeding tentacles, depicting the fan of banded tentacles in a design that describes the structure of the crown if it was to be flattened out. There are two distinct layers of tentacles in the crown and one of these layers forms a distinct spiral. This structure can be difficult to see when the tentacles are extended in the water as the crown tends to look more like a soft cup or a feathery plume underwater.

The worm itself is mostly hidden inside its leathery tube, extending only the feathery feeding tentacles out of the top of its self made home. In this artwork I have focused on the worm’s crown of feeding tentacles, depicting the fan of banded tentacles in a design that describes the structure of the crown if it was to be flattened out. There are two distinct layers of tentacles in the crown and one of these layers forms a distinct spiral. This structure can be difficult to see when the tentacles are extended in the water as the crown tends to look more like a soft cup or a feathery plume underwater.

I hoped to show the beauty and complexity of the worm’s crown in this piece, highlighting its mathematical perfection and delicate colour banding.

Fan Worm Crown

Coast Pennywort

The inspiration for my new piece Coast Pennywort (hydrocotyle bonariensis) came from a plant I picked up on a walk around my local area. This plant, commonly known as Coast Pennywort or Kurnell’s curse, is a weed in most parts of New South Wales but I have always loved the shape of it’s fleshy leaves with their intricate internal vein patterns.

When collecting plants for study I always make sure that I am collecting from an area where it’s permitted. Don’t ever be tempted to pick plants or flowers from national parks without permission, that is a big no no! Being a prolific weed, I don’t think anyone minded that I picked a bunch of Pennywort leaves and squirrelled them back to my studio for study.

When you hold the leaf up to the sun you can clearly see it’s intricate vein systems.

Wherever possible with my work I like to work from life. I like to have a physical specimen in front of me to touch, examine and sketch from when I develop my designs. I find that physical study gives me a much deeper understanding of a plant than what I could glean from photographs alone. Also by collecting multiple specimens I can compare the leaves and identify common characteristics which helps with identification.

Once back in the studio with my specimens I make a few quick sketches and identify the main characteristics of the plant/leaf. I then do a bit of research to identify the plant (my trusty Les Robinson plant field guide being my first stop then PlantNET being my back up). I also photograph the individual leaves with a macro lens for future reference.

After identification I draw up a design for an embroidered work. In this case I focused on the vein systems of the leaf with it’s beautiful radiating pattern.

Once the deign is finalised and lightly sketched onto some base fabric I embroider the design on the sewing machine. One clear characteristic of this particular leaf is it’s bright yellow/green centre where the stem attaches. In an attempt to emulate this feature the outer edges of the leaf are a deep green that gradually fades into a bright lime green in the centre of the piece. This is done my gradually alternating thread colours as I stitch to get a (hopefully) seamless gradation of colour.

When the design is fully embroidered and connected the base fabric is removed and the piece is carefully mounted on pins so that it appears to float above the base board. This mounting process is very important because it results in delicate shadows that add another dimension of depth to the piece and brings it to life. The piece is then custom framed in a shadow box behind glass like a precious specimen that is ready to hang on the wall.

Dissolving water-soluble fabric.

Plates

Plate 11

Maple Seed 2017

Framed artwork measures 74cm wide x 85cm high

Embroidery measures roughly 24cm wide x 79cm tall

Index

Meredith Woolnough, Under the Microscope (Detail), 2015.

100 Embroideries Project: 9, 10

Amazonian Water Lily, 23

Argonaut: 30, 31

Argonauta nodosa: 31

Attenborough, David: 15

Australia: 7, 8, 13, 19, 21, 23, 25, 33

Autumn Leaf: 74

Azure Ammonite: 26

Bernina: 10, 15 Biology: 19, 26

Blue Coral Bowl: 23 Botany: 19, 26

Caladium: 27 Carson, Mary: 7

Clear Resin Collection: 15

Coast Pennywort: 54, 55

Coral Cluster Circle: 37

Coral Fan Atoll: 8

Coral Polyp Square: 67

Corallite Study #1: 60

Corallite Study #3: 14

CSIRO Discovery Centre: 15

Cushion Plants: 48, 49

de Boer, Janet: 21

Eucalyptus Leaf Colour Wheel: 69

Fan Worm Crown: 52, 53

Freehand Machine Embroidery: 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 25, 26, 41, 42, 45, 51

Giant Coral Fan: 38

Gibco: 11

Ginkgo Biloba Study: 27

Ginkgo Florette: 4

Glowing Glowing Gone: 64

Gold To Green Ginkgo Circle: 7, 50, 51

Golden Ginkgo Square: 22

Goldsworthy, Andy: 19

Great Barrier Reef: 22, 37

Hanging Threads: 42

Hartl, Dr. Marietta: 11 Hydrangea Leaf: 26

Kempton, Anne: 47 Kidney Fern: 62 Krolik, Julia: 17 Kurnell’s curse: 55

Leaf Circle: 28, 39 Leaf Sprig: 65 Leaf Studies: 29 Les Robinson: 55

Maple Seed: 68

Mushroom Coral Circle: 21

Mushroom Coral Mandala: 36

Natural History Illustration: 14, 15, 17

Nature Studies: 17

Nautilus Unity: 66

New South Wales: 8, 21, 23, 25, 55

Newcastle: 13, 21, 23, 25

Newcastle Community Arts Centre: 23

Oliver, Bronwyn: 19

Orange Coral Fan: 59

Orange Nautilus: 34

Organic Embroidery: 27

R S T

Palau: 22, 37

Paper Nautilus: 30, 32

Petal Bowl: 29

Pinning: 22, 33, 51

Precious Possibilities: 10, 44, 45

Queensland: 21, 37

Red Ammonite: 58

Red Cabbage: 46, 47

Red Coral Bowl: 19, 24

Red Coral Fan: 13

Red Paper Nautilus: 33

Roseo, Maria Rosaria: 25

School of Stitched Textiles: 13

Scribbly Gum Leaf: 8, 61

Scuba: 21, 37

Sea Spiral: 36

Sewing Machine: 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 33, 36, 41, 43, 51, 55

Shadow Mounting: 10

Snorkelling: 21

Spiramirabilus: 25

Spring Leaves: 22

Star Coral Bowl: 37

Stitched Specimens: 39

Studio: 11, 14, 19, 35

Symes, Gunild: 35

Tamworth Textile Triennial: 19

Tasmania: 49

Taste of Textiles: 47

The Art of Cells: 11

The New Neighbours: 9, 19

Thrive Wellness Centre: 15

Timeless Textiles Gallery: 47

Typologies: 15, 16, 18

U V W T

Under the Microscope: 63, 70

University of New South Wales: 8, 23

Venus Coral Fan: 6, 13

Water-Soluble Fabric: 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 19, 25, 26, 36, 45, 51, 57

Whitehead, Bev, 47

Credits

Meredith Woolnough, Autumn Leaf (Detail), 2014.

Text Photos

TextileArtist.org

School of Stitched Textiles

Polyfield Magazine

Embroidery Magazine ArteMorbida

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Published in conjunction with the Boston University course Editorial Publishing Fall term, 2021

First edition

Copyright © Boston University School of Visual Arts

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.

This book aims to be respectful of all copyright. In reproducing illustrations and quotations, we have followed the doctrine of “fair use.” Please contact the publisher if you find an error or identify evidence of infringement.

Dana Clancy, Director, School of Visual Arts

Kristen Coogan, Chair, MFA Graphic Design

Christopher Sleboda, Chair, BFA Graphic Design

Design by Sarah Olick

Typeset in Branch, Mrs Eaves XL Serif OT, and Montserrat

Printed in the United States

Published by Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts 855 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02215

ISBN: 978-1-1187720-5-8